Citywide Rally Highlights Why 340B Care Matters in Every Chicago Neighborhood

NORTH CENTER -- Patients, advocates, and health care leaders will gather Sunday, February 1, at 3401 W. Roosevelt Road for 340B Saves Lives Action Day: A Community Celebration, calling on lawmakers to protect a program that organizers say is essential for every neighborhood in Chicago—from the South and West Sides to communities like North Center and Roscoe Village.

The event begins with a press conference at 2:30 p.m., followed by a public celebration from 3 to 4 p.m. Organizers describe the gathering as a citywide call to action to protect the 340B Drug Pricing Program, “a critical lifeline that helps save lives and allows community health centers and safety net hospitals serve patients most in need.”

While 340B is often associated with underserved areas, advocates stress that its impact reaches far beyond any single community. Families across Chicago depend on safety-net hospitals, community health centers, and neighborhood pharmacies for affordable medications and access to care—whether they are managing chronic conditions, navigating sudden illness, or caring for aging relatives.

According to the event’s media alert, “The 340B program allows eligible hospitals and community health centers to stretch limited resources, providing affordable medications and essential health care services to low-income, urban and rural uninsured patients.” Those savings help providers remain accessible, stabilize costs, and continue offering services that benefit patients throughout the city.

But that access is increasingly uncertain. Organizers warn that “ongoing attacks to the discount drug program threaten patients’ access to care and could force providers to cut critical programs and services.” The alert states plainly: “The future of 340B is at risk.”

Without protections, it adds, “patients lose access to affordable, lifesaving medications and safety net providers will be forced to close their doors.”

For residents of North Center and Roscoe Village, advocates say the issue is about ensuring that every Chicagoan—regardless of income, age, or health status—can rely on a stable, affordable health care system. When community providers lose resources, the effects ripple citywide: longer wait times, fewer programs, and reduced access to medications that keep people healthy and independent.

Sunday’s Action Day will feature patient speakers and health care leaders who rely on 340B to deliver care in neighborhoods across the region, including Dr. James Brooks of Lawndale Christian Health Center, Mahomed Ouedraogo of Access Community Health Network, Dr. Lisa Green of Family Christian Health Center, and Dr. Ngozi Ezike of Sinai Chicago.

With rally signs, patient stories, and opportunities for interviews, the event aims to make clear that 340B is not a niche policy—it is a foundation of Chicago’s health care safety net.

Organizers hope the message resonates across every ward and every block: protecting 340B means protecting access to care for all Chicago neighborhoods and all the people who call them home.